Cllr. Laurence Fallon and Denis Naughten TD are calling for an urgent overhaul of the Department of Agriculture’s farm inspection regime following the disclosure that there is up to 400% variation in penalties to farmers in County Roscommon when compared to County Kerry.
Figures revealed in data obtained from the Department of Agriculture also reveal that there is a 43% variation throughout the country in the penalty rate for nitrate inspections, a 41% variation on Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) inspections and a 24% variation rate on cattle inspections.
Denis Naughten pointed out: “Locally there is an 11% penalty rate for cattle inspections in County Mayo but just across the border in County Roscommon the penalty rate is 24%. So a Roscommon farmer living on the Mayo border is twice as likely to get a penalty for a cattle inspection as his neighbour in Mayo.”
Cllr. Laurence Fallon highlighted the fact that “the discrepancy for sheep inspections is similar, with a penalty rate of 22% in Galway but for farmers just over the ditch in County Roscommon the penalty rate is 35%”.
“Statistics like these reinforce the need for a radical reform of the whole system,” Denis Naughten stated.
“These variations are nothing short of ludicrous and make a farce of the farm inspection system. These discrepancies show the lack of consistency in inspection standards in different counties and between different inspectors.”
Cllr Fallon added: “A large number of these checks have no impact on food safety yet they can have a big impact on the potential penalty facing the farmer. The Department of Agriculture must run an information seminar for farmers bringing them up to speed with all of the current requirements under cross compliance, animal identification and nitrates.
“If this was the Leaving Certificate we wouldn’t accept a situation where the pass rate in maths or English varied by 370% based on what county you lived in. As such it should not be acceptable within the agricultural inspection system either.”
Both representatives have now called for an independent review of the whole inspection regime in the country, to ensure fairness and transparency in the system.
“It is only with such an overhaul that we can have any confidence that farmers are being treated fairly,” added Cllr. Fallon.
Caption: Cllr. Laurence Fallon & Denis Naughten TD on the Roscommon-Galway border where the rate of farm penalties for sheep inspections is 22% in Galway yet on the other side of the ditch in Roscommon the rate of farm penalties is 35%.
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